Cameron County faces $4M shortfall in budget

Cameron County officials will soon start work on the 2009-2010 budget, and with a shortfall of $4 million, their task will be a tough one.

County Judge Carlos H. Cascos said he has gotten a preliminary peek at the proposed financial statement, which is roughly $68 million and the figure indicates the county is about $4 million over its projected revenue.

Budget workshops have not been scheduled, but they typically begin either at the end of this month or at the beginning of July.

Although expenses have remained the same, the county has continued to see a decrease in the amount of money coming in, Casco said, citing a decline in bridge revenues and other fees collected by the county such as park usage fees.

The county has already mandated a freeze on travel, unless approved by County Commissioners Court, Cascos said. In addition, the county has implemented a hiring freeze and any county job that has not been filled within 45 days, will be eliminated.

The absorption of such positions will save the county about $450,000, leaving county officials with the duty of finding about $3.5 million to make up the difference.

Supervisors over the larger county departments will be asked to look at ways to cut the budgets of individual departments by about 7 to 9 percent, Cascos said. Managers over smaller departments will be asked to cut their department budgets by about 3 to 4 percent.

At a luncheon last week on South Padre Island, Cascos indicated there was a possibility that the county might have to raise taxes in order to help balance the budget. He reiterated that statement Tuesday, adding that the last option the county should consider is going to taxpayers. Raising the county tax rate by a penny would generate an estimated $1.2 million.

The current tax rate is 35 cents per $100 valuation.

The judge said the shortfall could also affect the yearly across the board raises the county allocates to all employees.

"I just don't see how we are going to do it" if no additional money is found to fund the raises, Cascos said.

Last year, all county employees - except for commissioners' court members and the three court-at-law judges - were given $1,000 raises.